Wet and mild: that's been the story of Orange's winter so far.
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While normally July is a month of freezing temperatures and bunkering down under blankets and coats, Orange has had a remarkably warm July - with just three days with maximums below eight degrees in the first 26 days of the month.
Bureau of Meterology meteorologist Agata Imielska said while the maximums in July hadn't been much higher than usual, the coldest maximums were far warmer than usual for this time of year.
She also said there had been no days this winter with the maximum below five degrees, which only happened in 20 per cent of years.
"Often the conditions which make for really cold nights are low humidity and clear skies," Ms Imielska said.
She said there'd been more cloud cover in the past month, meaning temperatures hadn't plummeted to their usual minimums and - crucially - less snow.
The past few months haven't quite led to the dams completely filling up just yet, but with the Bureau predicting a wetter-than-average spring that may be about to change.
"Because things have been so dry, rain which has arrived over autumn has obviously gone straight into the ground but the really good news is if there's more rain to come - and that's what the outlook says - it should runoff into the dams," Ms Imielska said.
While the long-term outlook is good for the rain, Ms Imielska said it meant there wasn't likely to be much snow in the back half of winter, unlike the early autumn snowfall last year.
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